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Updated 6/29//03
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We're Hangin' With..... Pirates of the Caribbean star...Keira Knightley! by: Lynn B.
AGW: Is it really that horrible to wear a corset? Keira: It wouldn't be if you were very sensible and you go into a fitting and you breathe out. If, like me, you've been watching too much of Gone With the Wind and have a bit of a Scarlet O'Hara complex, you go, "Ooh, let's see how tight we can make it." Then it's a problem. So we got it down to about 20 inches. It's a bit ridiculous. And yeah, the oxygen deprivation did become a problem. And you kind of can't sit down. And if you eat anything or drink anything it stops here [indicates chest]. So it feels like it's going to come back up all day, which is also great. So no, it did get to one point where I was standing on these stairs and it's sort of my big entrance is this gorgeous gold dress, and Gore [Verbinski, her director] is like, "Okay, you've got to go and get out of that corset because your eyes are rolling into the back of your head and you look like you're going to fall over." So that was kind of problematic. AGW: You're English so had you ever seen the Pirate ride at Disneyland? Keira: Yes. I had. In Disneyworld in Florida. I've been on it about five times. I went to that one when I was about 11. And I loved it. It was one of the best holidays I've ever been on. And then when I got to L.A. I thought, I'm doing the film, I'm working for Disney, can I have some free passes? So maybe I went back about four times with a very large group of friends and family, obviously, because you can't do research on your own. So yeah, I know it intimately. AGW: Would they stop the ride to let you walk around in there? Keira: No. No, I had to queue [line] up. I desperately tried. I said, "Listen, I'm doing the film." And they're like, "Yeah. Get to the back of the queue." So it didn't work. I couldn't pull any strings. AGW: Johnny Depp is an acting legend and he's cute too. What was it like working with him. Were you scared? Keira: No. I wasn't really scared. I couldn't wait to meet him because one of my friends has like the biggest crush ever. You go into her room and it's just posters of Johnny everywhere. Which is kind of really freaky, now. But no, I wasn't scared. And he's just such a nice guy. He's just so normal. I mean, you have a laugh and he's lived in France so he's watched a lot of British comedy shows so he knows British humor. And we just got on really well. And he's just a lovely guy. You have a chat, you have a cup of tea, and it's great. AGW: What about acting with him? Keira: At the beginning of this experience I thought, right, I'm going in, I'm working with Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Jonathan Pryce, these are kind of titans really. I'm going to go and I'm going to learn how to be rather fabulous and get all their secrets. I can safely say I've learnt absolutely nothing. Johnny in particular, he chats, he has a cup of tea, he giggles a lot, he does the scene, he chats, he has another cup of tea. But where does it come from? I haven't got a clue. It's just talent I guess. AGW: Did he have the gold teeth the whole time?
AGW: Was there some conspiracy not to give you a sword? Because you have everything else to fight with. Keira: We were really lucky because the writers, Ted and Terry, were on set practically every day from the beginning. And they were always coming up saying, 'Have you got any ideas? Come and talk to us. If you want anything, come and talk to us.' The only idea, the only thing I wanted was a sword. And every single day I'd go up and say, 'Give me a sword! Give me a sword!' And they'd be like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever.' Never got a sword. Six months later, never got a sword. So am I angry? Yes. Very. AGW: Was this the first film you did after Beckham? Keira: No. I did Bend it Like Beckham, and then I did a short film, and then I did a film called Pure, which is a kind of deeply art house film, and then Love, Actually and then this. So there was quite a lot in between, and finishing school and going to college and things like that. So all that as well. AGW: Bend it Like Beckham is doing so well in the U.S. after a great run in Europe. What is your reaction to that? Did you expect that? Keira: It's phenomenal. No. It was a very, very, very, very low budget film. It took eight weeks to shoot. It was a great summer. I hung out with a load of girls. We had a very girly time. Played some soccer, got a suntan, and that was that. We thought it would kind of do all right in England and in Europe because David Beckham is such an idol. And soccer, it's the only sport really. So we kind of thought that people would be curious about it and go and see it because of that. When it went to number one for three weeks in England, you kind of think, okay, this has gone beyond curiosity. And then when it comes out here, where really soccer is not anything. And David Beckham, you don't know who he is. It really kind of makes you proud to be a part of it because you think okay, it's a good film. It makes people smile, and that's great. AGW: So the success is a big surprise? Keira: I was going straight from like soccer training or filming into the school exam hall. And it was really just a little film I was going to do during the summer holidays before I went to college. So it's amazing how well it's done. AGW: You had a small role in the last Star Wars but you have a major role in this one. What's the difference between this and a little independent film? Keira: They're kind of polar opposites, really. I mean, Bend it Like Beckham, there was practically no money to make it. You do a small film like that, and you become really close because it's a tiny, tiny crew. And it's all very much, we have today to shoot this. We have to get it done now before the sun sets. That's it. With a film like this, we can take three weeks to shoot an action sequence. I go in in the morning and oh, look, they're exploding another boat and this is just a normal day isn't it? I mean, it's crazy. But both great experiences. AGW: What's your anti-drug in life? Keira: I love watching films. I'm a movie buff. At the moment I'm doing a lot of boxing, which I'm adoring and sword fighting, and I'm being terribly physical at the moment. So I do enjoy that. That endorphin rush is great. AGW: How did you get into boxing? Keira: It's all in preparation for King Arthur. Apparently, it's a very good way to keep fit. And my big problem with my knife fighting is that I don't look like a fighter because I did a lot of ballet dancing growing up. So I'm very much standing up here [indicates very straight and tall]. What I need to do is get down and learn how to defend myself. So the boxing's helping with all that. Plus, it's a great way to get fit. And if you ever want to feel like a powerful woman, there's nothing like knowing how to defend yourself. AGW: How did you like filming in the Caribbean? Keira: It was amazing. I did start to get island fever at the end of two months. But it was really incredible. My days off I'd be sort of lying on a beach and going snorkeling and stuff. Do you feel really sorry for me? Yeah. It was incredible. AGW: You are the youngest cast member in "Pirates". Was age a factor at all on the set? Keira: No, it wasn't. If you make friends with them. I don't think it matters how old people are. If you kind of click with somebody, then you click with somebody. So no.
Keira: [smiling] He's great. He's a sweetheart. We'd met each other a couple of times before at various auditions and never got the parts together. Either he'd got it or I got it. So it was really great to finally get a chance to work with him. But saying that, we have maybe four scenes in the entire film together. So I didn't see much of him at all. So it kind of feels like although we have worked together, we haven't really very much. But he's a sweetheart and we had a laugh. AGW: So that was actually you jumping off the plank into the sea? Keira:
It actually was. There were always safety divers in the water because
there were a lot of people on a lot of boats. And all falling in. My stunt
girl Sonja, who's wicked, she's my hero, she jumped in first. I have to
admit, But I'd been standing on the plank for like two days. I don't have
vertigo or anything but standing on that plank, it was only about 15 feet
up, but when you're standing there it's like a diving board so it's wobbling
the entire time. The whole boat's moving, because you're out at sea. It
completely freaked me out. And for the first time in my life I really
got scared of heights. AGW: Was there anything else particularly difficult for you in the film? Keira: Besides the plank scene, I think running around. There's a scene where she first sees all the skeletal pirates, which was really bizarre because there weren't any actors there [pirates are CGI]. It was just me running around the big ship, screaming a lot, completely on my own. That was kind of difficult, and it took two weeks to film as well. And by the end of it I was completely black and blue because I'd just been beating myself up, basically. Some people can get institutionalized for that. But there you go. AGW: Did anything from this film carry over into King Arthur, which is another period piece? Keira: It is, but this is kind of 450 A.D., so it's very, very different to Pirates of the Caribbean. It's Jerry Bruckheimer again, it's Disney again. So I know a lot of the guys. It's the same costume designer as had done Pirates, which is great. She's like my mom so that's very nice. But it's going to be a lot more rural. I don't think it's going to be a family film. I think we're just going for reality. So don't think Camelot or Excalibur. I think it's kind of more Gladiator. So it's going to be fascinating. AGW: Will you ever wear another corset? Keira: Never say never, but not for a good, long time.
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In
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of the Black Pearl, 19-year-old
Keira Knightley got to cuddle with both hottie Orlando Bloom and the amazing
Johnny Depp. How does she rate? We'll she was excellent co-starring in
that sleeper soccer hit Bend it Like Beckham and she looks great
in a corset, although she almost passed out wearing one. She's currently
filming King Arthur in
which
she plays Gwenivere and goes modern again in Love, Actually, co-starring
with Colin Firth and a stellar cast. When we got to talk with Keira in
L.A., in hoodie, two tank shirts and jeans, she looked the total opposite
of her prim 'Pirates" lady. She's very casual, chatty and relaxed.
We learned about Johnny, Orlando and..walking the plank! We also just
had to know… 
Keira:
Oh, yeah. That was actually the first thing I said to him, ever. We had
the read through in the Viper Room actually, his club. And I was kind
of star struck about being in there anyway, and he walked in and I'm like,
'Ooh, Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp.' And we sit down at a long table, and
he sits next to me and I'm like, "Oh, God!" And he goes, "Hi,
Keira." And I went, "S***, look at your teeth!" So it kind
of broke the ice right there, and that was our relationship from then
on, really.
AGW:
Did you click with Orlando?
Everyone who sees the film is going to go, "Yeah, but it's not that
high." But actually, I was completely terrified. It would have been
fine if I'd just kind of run and jumped in. I think I would have been
all right with that. But standing out there for two days, I got completely
freaked out. But after Sonja jumped in I thought, bloody hell. I've been
standing out here, there is no way I'm not going to do this. So I was
like, "Gore [Verbinski, the director], can I?" And he went,
"Yeah, go on, man." And actually, it's the shot in the movie,
so they've used me. And I did it and it was great fun.